[syn: quell, stay, appease]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Stay \Stay\ (st[=a]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stayed (st[=a]d) or
Staid (st[=a]d); p. pr. & vb. n. Staying.] [OF. estayer,
F. ['e]tayer to prop, fr. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, a prop,
probably fr. OD. stade, staeye, a prop, akin to E. stead; or
cf. stay a rope to support a mast. Cf. Staid, a., Stay,
v. i.]
1. To stop from motion or falling; to prop; to fix firmly; to
hold up; to support.
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Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the
one side, and the other on the other side. --Ex.
xvii. 12.
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Sallows and reeds . . . for vineyards useful found
To stay thy vines. --Dryden.
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2. To support from sinking; to sustain with strength; to
satisfy in part or for the time.
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He has devoured a whole loaf of bread and butter,
and it has not staid his stomach for a minute. --Sir
W. Scott.
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3. To bear up under; to endure; to support; to resist
successfully.
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She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes. --Shak.
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4. To hold from proceeding; to withhold; to restrain; to
stop; to hold.
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Him backward overthrew and down him stayed
With their rude hands and grisly grapplement.
--Spenser.
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All that may stay their minds from thinking that
true which they heartily wish were false. --Hooker.
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5. To hinder; to delay; to detain; to keep back.
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Your ships are stayed at Venice. --Shak.
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This business staid me in London almost a week.
--Evelyn.
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I was willing to stay my reader on an argument that
appeared to me new. --Locke.
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6. To remain for the purpose of; to wait for. "I stay dinner
there." --Shak.
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7. To cause to cease; to put an end to.
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Stay your strife. --Shak.
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For flattering planets seemed to say
This child should ills of ages stay. --Emerson.
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8. (Engin.) To fasten or secure with stays; as, to stay a
flat sheet in a steam boiler.
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9. (Naut.) To tack, as a vessel, so that the other side of
the vessel shall be presented to the wind.
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To stay a mast (Naut.), to incline it forward or aft, or to
one side, by the stays and backstays.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Stay \Stay\ (st[=a]), n. [AS. staeg, akin to D., G., Icel., Sw.,
& Dan. stag; cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai, of Teutonic origin.]
(Naut.)
A large, strong rope, employed to support a mast, by being
extended from the head of one mast down to some other, or to
some part of the vessel. Those which lead forward are called
fore-and-aft stays; those which lead to the vessel's side are
called backstays. See Illust. of Ship.
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In stays, or Hove in stays (Naut.), in the act or
situation of staying, or going about from one tack to
another. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
Stay holes (Naut.), openings in the edge of a staysail
through which the hanks pass which join it to the stay.
Stay tackle (Naut.), a tackle attached to a stay and used
for hoisting or lowering heavy articles over the side.
To miss stays (Naut.), to fail in the attempt to go about.
--Totten.
Triatic stay (Naut.), a rope secured at the ends to the
heads of the foremast and mainmast with thimbles spliced
to its bight into which the stay tackles hook.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Stay \Stay\ (st[=a]), v. i. [[root]163. See Stay to hold up,
prop.]
1. To remain; to continue in a place; to abide fixed for a
space of time; to stop; to stand still.
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She would command the hasty sun to stay. --Spenser.
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Stay, I command you; stay and hear me first.
--Dryden.
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I stay a little longer, as one stays
To cover up the embers that still burn.
--Longfellow.
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2. To continue in a state.
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The flames augment, and stay
At their full height, then languish to decay.
--Dryden.
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3. To wait; to attend; to forbear to act.
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I 'll tell thee all my whole device
When I am in my coach, which stays for us. --Shak.
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The father can not stay any longer for the fortune.
--Locke.
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4. To dwell; to tarry; to linger.
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I must stay a little on one action. --Dryden.
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5. To rest; to depend; to rely; to stand; to insist.
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I stay here on my bond. --Shak.
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Ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and
perverseness, and stay thereon. --Isa. xxx.
12.
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6. To come to an end; to cease; as, that day the storm
stayed. [Archaic]
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Here my commission stays. --Shak.
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7. To hold out in a race or other contest; as, a horse stays
well. [Colloq.]
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8. (Naut.) To change tack, as a ship.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Stay \Stay\, n. [Cf. OF. estai, F. ['e]tai support, and E. stay
a rope to support a mast.]
1. That which serves as a prop; a support. "My only strength
and stay." --Milton.
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Trees serve as so many stays for their vines.
--Addison.
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Lord Liverpool is the single stay of this ministry.
--Coleridge.
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2. pl. A corset stiffened with whalebone or other material,
worn by women, and rarely by men.
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How the strait stays the slender waist constrain.
--Gay.
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3. Continuance in a place; abode for a space of time;
sojourn; as, you make a short stay in this city.
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Make haste, and leave thy business and thy care;
No mortal interest can be worth thy stay. --Dryden.
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Embrace the hero and his stay implore. --Waller.
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4. Cessation of motion or progression; stand; stop.
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Made of sphere metal, never to decay
Until his revolution was at stay. --Milton.
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Affairs of state seemed rather to stand at a stay.
--Hayward.
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5. Hindrance; let; check. [Obs.]
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They were able to read good authors without any
stay, if the book were not false. --Robynson
(More's
Utopia).
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6. Restraint of passion; moderation; caution; steadiness;
sobriety. [Obs.] "Not grudging that thy lust hath bounds
and stays." --Herbert.
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The wisdom, stay, and moderation of the king.
--Bacon.
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With prudent stay he long deferred
The rough contention. --Philips.
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7. (Engin.) Strictly, a part in tension to hold the parts
together, or stiffen them.
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Stay bolt (Mech.), a bolt or short rod, connecting opposite
plates, so as to prevent them from being bulged out when
acted upon by a pressure which tends to force them apart,
as in the leg of a steam boiler.
Stay busk, a stiff piece of wood, steel, or whalebone, for
the front support of a woman's stays. Cf. Busk.
Stay rod, a rod which acts as a stay, particularly in a
steam boiler.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
stay
n 1: continuing or remaining in a place or state; "they had a
nice stay in Paris"; "a lengthy hospital stay"; "a four-
month stay in bankruptcy court"
2: the state of inactivity following an interruption; "the
negotiations were in arrest"; "held them in check"; "during
the halt he got some lunch"; "the momentary stay enabled him
to escape the blow"; "he spent the entire stop in his seat"
[syn: arrest, check, halt, hitch, stay, stop,
stoppage]
3: a judicial order forbidding some action until an event occurs
or the order is lifted; "the Supreme Court has the power to
stay an injunction pending an appeal to the whole Court"
4: a thin strip of metal or bone that is used to stiffen a
garment (e.g. a corset)
5: (nautical) brace consisting of a heavy rope or wire cable
used as a support for a mast or spar
v 1: stay the same; remain in a certain state; "The dress
remained wet after repeated attempts to dry it"; "rest
assured"; "stay alone"; "He remained unmoved by her tears";
"The bad weather continued for another week" [syn: stay,
remain, rest] [ant: change]
2: stay put (in a certain place); "We are staying in Detroit; we
are not moving to Cincinnati"; "Stay put in the corner
here!"; "Stick around and you will learn something!" [syn:
stay, stick, stick around, stay put] [ant: move]
3: dwell; "You can stay with me while you are in town"; "stay a
bit longer--the day is still young" [syn: bide, abide,
stay]
4: continue in a place, position, or situation; "After
graduation, she stayed on in Cambridge as a student adviser";
"Stay with me, please"; "despite student protests, he
remained Dean for another year"; "She continued as deputy
mayor for another year" [syn: stay, stay on, continue,
remain]
5: remain behind; "I had to stay at home and watch the children"
[ant: depart, quit, take leave]
6: stop or halt; "Please stay the bloodshed!" [syn: stay,
detain, delay]
7: stay behind; "The smell stayed in the room"; "The hostility
remained long after they made up" [syn: persist, remain,
stay]
8: hang on during a trial of endurance; "ride out the storm"
[syn: last out, stay, ride out, outride]
9: stop a judicial process; "The judge stayed the execution
order"
10: fasten with stays
11: overcome or allay; "quell my hunger" [syn: quell, stay,
appease]